Drunken driving charge maintained against judge's girlfriend

A district court judge has denied a legal attempt by another judge’s girlfriend to suppress evidence in her Oakland County drunken driving case.

Brenda Conway, Macomb County Circuit Judge Richard Caretti’s girlfriend, lost her attempt to toss out some or all of the evidence against her regarding the charge that she drove intoxicated with Caretti’s two minor children in her vehicle in January, a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of one year in jail.

The ruling by Judge Debra Nance of 46th District Court in Southfield means the case should proceed with a pretrial scheduled for next Monday. However, the case could be placed on hold because Conway’s attorney, Jeffrey Abood, said he plans to appeal the decision to circuit court.

Conway, 50, of Troy, was arrested around midnight Jan. 13-14 after she pulled into the driveway of the Franklin home of Caretti’s ex-wife, Lori Conway, who is related by marriage to Brenda Conway.

Police were called by Lori Conway after one of her daughters text messaged that Conway was drunk and driving erratically on the way home from a Macomb Township wedding reception for a Caretti relative. Preliminary breathalyzer tests indicated her blood-alcohol content was 0.15 and 0.16 percent, or double the legal limit.

Caretti was a passenger in the Volkswagen SUV and was investigated by Child Protective Services on the allegation he allowed his children to ride with a suspected drunken driver. The results have not been made public.

Caretti denied he knew his female companion was drunk.

Abood and his co-counsel, Andrew Abood, argued police did not have probable cause to arrest Conway. They contend the police officer received the information about Conway’s driving third-hand, and that two of the three sobriety tests administered by police officer Steven Thompson are not recognized by authorities. The recognized test he did perform he did so incorrectly, they said.